I've Missed My Little Blog

I haven't been able to get onto my computer since mid-week last week because of a HUGE computer mess that made it impossible.  It has taken many days and an amazing computer wizard friend to get me back here.

I've missed you.

Really.

A lot.

I mean it.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  Ours was awesome. 

I LOVE our church!!!  It has to be the most amazing place I have ever been.  Being there on Easter in our new building was extra special. 

I also love the family that I spent time with.  Easter just wouldn't be the same without them.

I know that Easter was two days ago (almost three now), but I couldn't post this earlier because of the above mentioned problem. 

I made this with items I bought from the Dollar Store when I was doing Lindsay's challenge.

(Okay, I just spent 3+ hours trying to figure out why my Photoshop Elements wasn't working to no avail.  Aargh!!!  Oh well, HP Photosmart to the rescue...)

Just a card, two frames and some green flowers from the Dollar Store.

I tried to find a card that would work well with my idea and this one was the best fit.  I would have loved to have found an angel, an empty tomb and a cross or dove, but I didn't see any.  I like the way this turned out though.  I don't have many Easter decorations so it will be fun to get this one out each year.

I ended up switching frames from the ones in the previous photo after a failed attempt at something fancy.  

Always learning something new even with failures.

It's hard to see, but I took out the glazing points that hold in the glass.  I wouldn't need them later because I would be gluing the glass in.  They are usually used to hold the back of the stand and the photo in the frame, but I wouldn't need them for that either.  Oooooh, are you curious yet?

Next a good coat of primer because I was afraid the shiny fronts (you're actually seeing the backs in this photo) wouldn't take well to being painted with my acrylic paint without it.

On the left is one coat of Folk Art Vintage White and then two coats on the right.  I ended up deciding on three.  Some of the gray primer still shows through, but that was fine with me.  It gave it a somewhat aged look.

Once I had the frames ready I moved on to the card.  I attached the card to a comic book backing board with Golden's Regular (Matte) Gel Medium.  I'm sure some sturdy cardboard would work, but I knew it would be visible, around the edges, in the next step so I went with something white.

Now, I probably should have waited until it was completely dry to start cutting it out, but I'm a bit impatient (just ask my husband...and my kids). 

I broke a small part of the tip off of three X-acto knife cutting blades doing this. 

I'm sure it was due to the thickness.   This part took awhile and my hands got a little sore, but it was totally worth it.

Now for my favorite part...the leaves. 

I used my green flowers to cut out leaf shapes.  The bottom two on the left are what I was going for.

Then I strategically glued them to the tree.

I used Beacon's 3-in-1 Advanced Craft Glue for this part.

Now onto assembly. 

I didn't take a photo of it, but I attached the glass back into both frames with Duncan's Liquid Fusion Clear Urethane Glue.  Awesome stuff!  A little of it squeezed onto the glass when I put it together, but once it was dry it came off the glass nicely with a razor blade. 

I chose some ribbon I already had on hand and stapled it to the top backside of the first frame.  (I'm thinking about decorating a whole wall with all the ribbon I have on hand.  Maybe I could add my buttons too.  Just kidding...maybe.)  I also stapled the tree piece (facedown, toward the glass) because I wasn't sure glue would be enough to give it stability.  You'll notice I stapled it to the backside of the frame also.  Then I glued two of the larger small pieces to the frame against the glass.

Here's where it gets complicated. 

I'm not very good at explaining things sometimes so I hope I make this clear.

On the second frame I glued the last two small pieces against the glass facing toward the back of the frame.  You can see where I didn't paint the back of the frame completely.  I knew it wouldn't be visible when I sandwiched the two frames together so I didn't waste my time on it.

Sorry, no photo for this oh, so very important part.  I used Dries White Gorilla Glue to attach the two frames back to back making the finished frame SEE THROUGH!!  Yes, I'm feeling terribly clever.  Please don't tell me that you've seen this done a million times before.  Let me revel in my delusions of grandeur for just a bit.

Ahhh, that feels good.

Here it is hung in my kitchen window. 

I just love the 3 dimensional effect of the whole thing. 

A little close-up.

And a bonus silhouette view. 

Don't the leaves look so pretty?!

It's so sad that I've already put it away and you are just seeing it for the first time.

I'll have to get something new on here real soon that isn't already outdated. 

I'm just glad I can get back on my computer again.

Happy happy blog blog.